PEOS IN THE COMMUNITY: SYNDEO TAKES CARE OF ONE ANOTHER, AND ITS COMMUNITY

Syndeo Outsourcing prides itself on servicing clients in a humble way. It takes the same approach to its involvement in the community.

Syndeo CEO Bill Maness has long encouraged his executive team to serve on boards of local nonprofits and to take care of one another – not just within the walls of Syndeo, but within the communities his company operates in. In order to take care of his staff and clients, he believes he must take great care of those around him.

To further that mission, the Wichita-based firm this year launched Syndeo Cares, an initiative that encourages corporate social responsibility through company-wide volunteering events and strategic partnerships with nonprofit organizations. The program targets those in need in the greater Wichita area as well as in Lawrence in eastern Kansas, where Syndeo also operates.

The ten-person volunteer committee is made up of Syndeo employees who craft, vet, and pursue volunteering initiatives. Internal employees as well as clients and external organizations are able to submit requests electronically for donations, whether it be money, supplies, or manpower.

Syndeo Chief Financial Officer Todd Matheny provides the volunteering budget, while Director of Human Resources and Payroll Connor Cross provides guidance and additional support. Delegating volunteer decision-making on community requests for support from the executive level to the staff level allows employees to feel empowered in the workplace and in the tangible impact they are leading in the community.

“We are passionate about what we do at Syndeo and passionate about what we do outside of work,” Cross said. “Bill pushes us to pursue these things. It’s very rewarding.”

Volunteering efforts run the gamut. Some employees volunteer at their children’s school; groups gather to participate in environmental cleanup outings; others have spent time working with elephants at the Sedgwick County Zoo. Employees can help organize food drives or clothing donations; as long as those in need are benefiting, Syndeo’s volunteering mission is being fulfilled.

Recently, the team has devoted time to help Wichita’s Littlest Heroes, a nonprofit providing education, resources, and family activities for children battling life-threatening medical conditions. Most things the committee says yes to are kids and pets, Cross said. Wellness and mental health events around town are also big hits.

“It doesn’t matter what it is, we just like to hear about it,” Cross said.

Syndeo makes it a point to allow its team to pursue their passions when giving back, but also to align itself with the events that clients sponsor as well. Matheny sets aside funds and notes that there are parameters the team must follow, though they “have a lot of rope to work with on those.”

For two years, Matheny worked with poverty-stricken children through a local private school-church partnership where volunteers were paired with a child to then spend several hours a week with.

“You could be in class with them or play basketball with them,” said Matheny, who also serves as secretary/treasurer for Heartspring, a nonprofit helping children with special needs. “Or you could be friends with their friends and just talk about life. I enjoyed doing that.”

Syndeo has strategic partnerships with several local nonprofits, including Family Promise of Greater Wichita, which helps homeless families with children achieve independence. Syndeo has supported their annual gala for six years and counting and with two employees on its board, has been active in providing local families a better life. Syndeo in October received the Community Star Award for its work with the nonprofit. Cross serves as the president of their board and jokingly says her dream job is to manage their closet with stylish clothes.

In addition, Syndeo makes referrals to its staffing company to further help those aided by Family Promise also be placed in jobs. It’s an example of how Syndeo Gives Back advances Manesses’s longstanding mission to better the community that the PEO has immersed itself in over the past 21 years.

The firm routinely brings on clients free of administrative fees, and in some cases, clients that they will not profit, let alone break even on, solely because Maness is passionate about helping the client and advancing its respective mission.

He encourages team members to volunteer on boards of local nonprofits, something that then morphed into him providing employees eight hours of paid volunteering time off each quarter. Cross said this top-down approach has not only impacted the local community, but also the industry community.

Maness and Syndeo Chief Information Officer Jenna Marceau also serve on the NAPEO Gives Back Committee, which provides an impactful contribution to a local charity that hosts NAPEO’s Annual Conference & Marketplace.

A notable volunteering effort that brings out the inner competitor in the Syndeo staff is the annual children’s coat drive it has participated in for more than a decade. Syndeo has partnered with a local large client in this effort, making it a goal to be the largest donor. They routinely account for more than half the coats received.

“Our team gets so competitive,” Cross said. “There are internal competitions for who has the most stylish coats. We have this tiny conference room filled with all sorts of puffer jackets.”

Matheny hopes Syndeo’s volunteering budget will continue to grow, and in turn, the opportunities it has to give back.

“We are driven and we are people of excellence, but we are also servants and compassionate,” Matheny said. “And there’s still a lot of untapped potential.”